Transplanting Mature Box Hedging

After two years of serious deliberations we have decided to sell a third of our garden to a developer. I am the gardener in the family so it was me who was slowing up the progress, weighing up the options but now the decision has been made I feel quite liberated.

The downside is that I will lose my fruit and veggie plot which has been more of a hobby than an exercise in self sufficiency. The fruit bushes, gooseberry, raspberry, blueberry and blackcurrents have not been very productive so no great loss there although I will transplant them into pots and try again in another part of the garden.

My main concern is a box circle enclosing a mature rose bed which is where we want to reposition our shed. It has a sentimental value, having been planted for my husband’s birthday ten years ago. We considered leaving a semi circle but thought this would look rather odd in front of the shed.

Has anyone tried transplanting ten year old box hedging?

 

Hi Alana,

Don't know how deep the roots will go. Ideally i'd wait till it was dormant in the winter.

 

Box are pretty tough ...

but I think your greatest problem will be planting them so that they look "balanced". I suppose once they grow out it won't matter too much, but initially you'll never get them planted close-enough, nor at the right angle, to look like a fully-formed hedge.

Until I read about the "sentimental value" I was going to suggest selling it on eBay and using the money to grow something different (or some new Box). Someone will buy them for an instant fix, and it will be their problem to keep them alive, and get them planted "looking like a hedge" !!

I'd sell all your old fruit bushes on eBay too ("buyer to dig up and take away") and treat yourself to some new, virus free, stock. (Dunno about the Blueberry though, they take a while to establish - have you got acid soil? if not that's probably your problem, and a plant in ericaceous compost in a pot would do better)

 

Thanks for your answers guys. I know I shouldn't get sentimental about plants and starting from scratch seems a sensible idea.

 

Good idea John. Takes a little while though - I took some cuttings Autumn before last, and they were only ready for potting up this Spring, and several of those had just one pathetic root - goodness knows how they stayed alive for so long with no roots!

 

Hi Alana,

Box have a good fibrous root system and would move quite readily as long as you get a decent rootball with them, but as Ziggy says wait until late autumn to do it.
If they need reshaping once moved this is relatively easy too, you can prune harshly where required and they will recover so you should have a good shaped hedge again in 12 months.
By all means take cuttings too, as said they do take fairly easily but will take a long time to produce a good hedge.

 

Thanks Scillonian - Late autumn it is then - should be fun trying to get a circular hedge straight - I'll have to put my (inadequate) topiary skills to use.
I will take a few cuttings as insurance.